Skipping breakfast is a huge mistake if you want to lose fat. Enjoying a hearty and nutritious meal in the morning can actually jump-start your metabolism and encourage pounds to drop. Choose a breakfast that’s high in protein and full of fiber, to give you energy and keep you satisfied for hours. Here are some healthful breakfast swaps that ensure your meals are always on point.

2. Eat Breakfast Within One Hour of Waking.

Eating breakfast is essential for fat loss, but what time the breakfast is eaten is also important. Make sure to eat breakfast within an hour of waking. An early breakfast helps maintain circadian rhythm and boost metabolism.

3. Limit Your Calorie Intake.

Not to exceed your recommended daily calorie intake. Figure out how many calories to consume each day, based on your current weight and weight-loss goal. Don’t dip below 1200 calories to prevent going into starvation mode, which makes your body hold onto the weight.

4. Healthy Foods Don’t Mean All-You- Can-Eat.

Avocados, peanut butter, sweet potatoes, brown rice – these foods are all nutritious, but that doesn’t mean they’re void of calories. You still need to be aware of serving sizes, even for food that are good for you.

5. Enjoy the Food You Eat.

One of the worst things you can do when you’re trying to lose weight is to not give your body enough food. Instead of depriving yourself, make sure to give yourself small indulgences or a cheat day – especially since occasional high-calorie foods won’t wreck a healthy diet. In fact, they can do quite the opposite: having a healthy relationship with food may help you from going overboard later.

6. Stop Skipping Evening Workouts.

At the end of a hard day, it’s easy to make an excuse and not head to the gym or take that run. Keep yourself committed and know that skipping an evening workout is not an option. And honestly, who couldn’t use an extra boost of endorphins after a tough meeting? If it’s too dark to head outside to exercise, these at-home workouts will do the

7. Watch Your Drinks Calories.

Between those refreshing margaritas and a hankering for a midday mimosa, a day off can be all the convincing you need to spend it imbibing. But making sure you watch your drink calories is important if you want to lose fat.

8. Stop With the Scale.

It may be tempting to step on a scale whenever you see one, but if it’s making you feel bad, then give it a break. Keep in mind that the number is not going to change overnight. Allow yourself weekly weigh-ins, but also factor in that what you see isn’t always the most accurate measure of weight-loss efforts. You could be building fat-burning muscle, which could be pushing the number up. Losing excess body-fat (for health and cosmetic reasons) is, in many ways, a great idea. Monitoring ongoing fat-loss is crucial if weight loss goals are to be met. Skin-fold calipers have been used for years to help determine body-fat levels, and many trainers and athletes believe they provide an excellent means in which to self assess and monitor.

9. Stop Eating Junk Food.

It may seem obvious, but junk food is an enemy against weight loss. Foods filled with sugar and fat are a fast ticket to weight gain, irritability and low energy levels. To get all the junk out of your system, consider doing a two-week elimination diet by cutting out gluten, refined sugars and alcohol.

10. Push Your Body.

If you don’t feel like trying something new in your exercise regimen, there are still ways to step up your current routine. Adding an extra few minutes to a workout, sprinting at the end of a run, or choosing heavier weights may make all the difference.

The idea that a low-calorie diet might tempt you because it seems like the quickest, surest way to lose weight. It certainly isn’t easy, but it will get results. However, many negative side effects come along with restricting your calorie intake below 1200. Eating less than 1200 calories per day will send your body into starvation mode. Some side effects are minor and will pass with a good meal, but some are more serious and can land you in the hospital. Do not attempt a low-calorie diet unless you are under the strict supervision of your doctor. Your body needs a certain amount of calories to carry out vital functions. Eating less than that will lead to side effects. Some symptoms of severe calorie restriction are weakness, fatigue, cold intolerance, irregular menstrual periods, dizziness, constipation and swelling of the hands and feet.

Major Side Effects

Gallstones are caused by going on a severe calorie-restricted diet and losing weight too quickly. Often, you will need to have surgery to remove your gallbladder if this happens. Gout, or a painful inflammation of the joints caused by high uric acid in the blood, can start or become worse from low-calorie dieting. Since you are not taking in the proper amounts of vitamins, proteins and electrolytes, you are at risk for malnutrition disorders and electrolyte imbalances. Sudden death is a very rare but possible side effect from extremely low-calorie dieting.

Long-Term Considerations

Low-calorie diets force your body to take energy from other sources. You are more likely to burn muscles than fat because your body needs protein. This lowers your metabolic rate and makes it more difficult to lose weight. You are also not likely to stay on this type of eating plan for long, and you will eventually go back to your normal eating patterns. All the weight will come back. Furthermore, the electrolyte imbalances will cause your body to leach calcium from your bones, potentially weakening them and leading to osteoporosis.

When you start The 21FITDAY, your body will begin to change. Body fat will

Hello! We are Mary & Max Slipchenko and we love fitness, martial arts and healthy lifestyle. We moved from Ukraine (Kiev) to USA (California) in 2013. So now we live in Orange County (Irvine) and we love this place. We grew up in the same city and trained in the same gym, where we met in 2000. We have Sports and Physical Education degrees, we are certified nutritionists and have over 15 years of experience of helping people to reshape their bodies and stay healthy and fit. We are the authors of "Thai Boxing For You" and "Muay Thai Training System" on the iBook Store and Amazon. We also created applications - "Thai Boxing For You" and "21Fitday" on the App Store. So we have created our own system – "21FITDAY Body Transformation Program" that is comprised of nutrition and training, to help people achieve their ultimate goal: "look and feel great". We decided to share our knowledge with you and created this website. Our mission is to help in your fitness journey, show you how to avoid mistakes and achieve excellent result!